Summer Scare is here, beginning 20 June 2025, Summer Solstice, and lasting to the Autumn Equinox when the official Halloween Season begins. Gather up your tales of ghosts, goblins, and things that go bump in the night, maybe a zombie or two, a werewolf, even a wendigo. Readers await, sweating in the heat and wanting that chill that only your scary tales can convey. And, for you readers, rest assured that the writing is ALL done by humans, but not necessarily alive or in one piece!
Oh, and at the very bottom of this post is an excerpt from my new book From the Files of Fontaine Investigations, a paragraph or two to give you a clue as to some of the lesser known goings on in the U.S. capital city. I will be including excerpts in the weekly scary posts.
Some Scary Previews by Other Humans Here:
NOTE: Included in here are several Friday the 13th stories. I have never considered that day bad luck. In fact, I’ve usually had good things happen on that day. But for others… well, read these stories and find out.
Starting you off with
who keeps things going year round and has launched her own endeavor to give you chills even on the hottest days:
One of my fave people on here is
who isn’t Lovecraft scary but more of a cute scary (yes, it’s a thing) and digs up some interesting info about her home state like this:
Congrats to
for getting Flames of Indigo ready for publication and kudos on this creepy little story:
This Friday the 13th story by
deserves another look, since for all aficionados of the scary that day is everyday:
Dive into the Sticky Witch series by
, which is now up to episode XIII:
More witchy goings on from
in her SwampWitch series:
Just to show that scary doesn’t just come from strange creatures,
brings us this terrifying tidbit, interestingly written in present tense:
Another Friday the 13th story you might have missed, this one from
:
And
brings a comedic touch to this Friday the 13th story:
And a bit of oddity from
:
Look around you, as
warns, for those among us:
Yet another Friday the 13th tale, this one from
:
The archives have been opened as
shares the scare:
Side note: John is co-host of Macabre Monday (you have to go to Chat to see their stuff) and has launched a parallel Summer Scare event. If you find yourself needing more scary stuff, check them out.
This story by
still gives me the shivers: even did the illustration for this one:
A not actually scary but oddly eerie story by Joe Ducato comes to us courtesy of
:
You can always count on
for something shivery:
Yeah, I know it’s a long list, but we have a lot of writers on here dedicated to this type of writing. Settle in for some great reads.
More Writers Who Produce Scary (and Sometimes Cute) Stuff (in alphabetical order):
Some writers on here who, as far as I’ve seen, write stories in that scary arena. If I’ve missed adding you here or have tagged you in error, please let me know.
NOTE: Every writer named here has assured me they don’t use AI in any aspect of their writing. I don’t knowingly promote AI-generated junk. Thanks for reading.
– Victorian Vignettes – Exploring eerie elegance of Gaslamp Horror in Victorian era – Turn on the Light – Murder, mystery, sex, romance, sci-fi, horror – Monsters & Mystics – Fantasy, paranormal romance – Cyberpunk, horror, dirtbag literature – My Head is Unraveling – Horror writer, book reviewer – Horror Weekly – Dead Heretic – Cyberpunk, Science fiction – SwampWitch – Tales of the Zeitgeist – Contemporary fiction, humor, horror, Science fiction, host of Wednesday House of Haiku – Colin’s Dark Stories – Ars Corvi – Gothic, noir – Dungeon Mistress Chronicles – The Eye of the Storm – Romance, erotica, horror, gamelit – Tales at Twilight – Speculative stories with dark edge, humor – Grace’s Spook Show – Jane Doughtery’s Bestiary – Autumn Lives Here – Monster of the Week – Strange New Worlds – Science fiction, horror, humor/satire – Halcyon Horror – Poison Ivy House – AroundSciFi - Read - Imagine - Discover – Graphomania with M.P. Fitzgerald – Darkly humorous Science fiction & horror – Plotted Out – Cornish fantasy & dark humor – Speculative Fiction and Dark Tales | Nocturnal Narrator – Dark speculative fiction, builds interactive worlds to tell strange stories – Twisting the Myths – ReddOscarWrites – Fantasy, science fiction, and horror – Ghost Stories – Paranormal fiction, tech horror, dystopia – Ghost Notes – Scrawls of Dread’s Substack – Matte Black – Science fiction, dystopian, horror – Reimagining classic monsters – Tales of the Unexpected – Dracula’s Ghost – DOOM FICTIONAnd speaking of scary, an excerpt from my latest book:
From the first case file (“The Divorce”):
“How else did you think we were going to install the bugs?”
Jessica shrugged and smiled, making Zachariah laugh.
“Well, anyway,” he said, “in the basement is a hologram projector—”
“What?”
“Well, I guess that’s what it is. Anyway, I flipped a switch, and it came on, and this weird creature appeared.”
“What’d it look like?” asked Jessica, her curiosity piqued.
“Strange head like an insect—grasshopper, I think. Large eyes, small mouth that seemed made for cutting and ripping into its food. And the body was sort of like a gorilla with no hair—female, as far as I could tell.”
Read the rest in ebook or paperback (hopefully, audio will be available soon). And check out my other 4 books:
Where to Buy:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop.org
Apple Books | Kobo | Smashwords
Angus & Robertson | Fable
Thalia (German) | Vivlio (French/English)
Thank you for the mention! Lots of spooky stories here to read, love it!
Thanks for sharing so many here!